Kids grow up too fast. I think Ellen needs to join them.

Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner has proved to be an onerous book to read through. The sentimentality of her plight and flowery language are becoming unbearable. I continually want to shake Ellen and slap some rational into her. But then I remember she’s only ten. And I then feel pretty bad.

Although Ellen annoys me, I do have to keep reminding myself how very young she is. Her parents left her for France when they could have probably very easily taken her with them. She was forced into a really terrible situation. I try to imagine myself as ten years old, being torn away from my parents, and I find myself feeling increasingly sympathetic to Ellen’s situation. And yet when I read forwards in Warner’s book, she continually annoys me.

This made me wonder as to why I expect Ellen to act so grown up, even though she’s only ten. I decided that ten year olds today have become a lot more mature than they used to be. I have become used to the fact that ten year olds take on more responsibility than they used to. Kids in today’s generation grow up so much faster than they ought to. Children need time to just be kids, yet they don’t seem to have that time anymore.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, “‘The 12- to 14-year-olds of yesterday are the 10- to 12-'s of today,’ says Bruce Friend, a vice president of the kids' cable channel Nickelodeon. The Nickelodeon-Yankelovicht Youth Monitor found that by the time they are 12, children describe themselves as ‘flirtatious, sexy, trendy, athletic, cool.’ Among the products targeted at this age group is the Sweet Georgia Brown line from AM Cosmetics. It includes body paints and scented body oils with names like Vanilla Vibe and Follow Me Boy. Soon, thanks to the Cincinnati design firm Libby Peszyk Kattiman, your little darling will be able to slip into some tween-sized bikini panties.”

Reading this article made me realize how hyper-fast kids grow up and how much they are exposed to. There is less and less oversight in our society that protects children from mature themes. Because I am used to the current generation of ten year olds, I automatically expect Ellen to (for lack of a better phrase) suck it up. This is a very unfair expectation.

However, the article further states, “What change in our social ecology has led to the emergence of tweens? In my conversations with educators and child psychologists who work primarily with middle-class kids nationwide, two major and fairly predictable themes emerged: absentee parents…”

Ellen was ripped away from her parents and forced to live with a rather unforgiving aunt. According to this study, she should have grown up exponentially faster instead of crying all the time. As when mentioned in class, I find Ellen’s character’s parallel, Jane Eyre, to be so much stronger. Placed in the same position, Jane rebelled and created her own path rather than be thrown about life while weeping.

To be clear, I do feel badly for Ellen. But at the same time, she was placed in a situation that should have made her mature faster, rather than revert to a child-like state. I only hope that she eventually stops crying at some point…